Murder Under the Friday Night Lights Recap for Monster Among Trolls

-This week’s Murder Under the Friday Night Lights is titled Monster Among Trolls and covers the case of a thirteen-year-old cheerleader named Tristyn Bailey, who was taken way too soon due to a horrific act of violence.

-On Mother’s Day 2021 (May 9th) in Durbin Crossing, St. Johns Florida, Tristyn’s mom Stacey was waiting for breakfast. She went to go downstairs to see what was going on and sent her son Teagan to get Tristyn. He saw she was not in her room, so everyone went to look for her. Nobody could find her and wondered where she could be. Tristyn was not the kind of child to run away according to Stacey and Forrest (Tristyn’s father), so they knew something was very wrong.

-They tried to call Tristyn’s phone, but it kept going to voicemail. She had Life360 on her phone, but since it was dead, they could not figure out her location.

-Tristyn had been a cheerleader since she was a little girl and super into the sport. She took it very seriously, according to her coach Melanie and her parents, and it led to her being co-captain of the squad in middle school.

-Tristyn’s biggest goal was to get on the varsity squad and cheer during the Friday Night Lights games.

-Stacey and Forrest reported Tristyn missing and posted about her disappearance on social media. Her sister Brittney followed suit in hopes that Tristyn would be found.

-The last person to see Tristyn alive was her sister Sophia, who claimed Tristyn got a FaceTime call from a boy. Tristyn hung up once she saw Sophia listening. They had gone their separate ways after and Sophia had assumed she had gone to bed. She recalled the guy in question being a while male wearing a baseball cap. He was later identified as 14-year-old Tre Absher, who was a schoolmate of hers.

-Stacey knew that they were friends but had never met Tre. Tristyn had taken care of him and was there for him as he went through a tough time in his life.

-Tre was questioned but denied knowing anything about the disappearance. Video footage confirmed that they never saw each other that night.

-Video footage from the Bailey home showed a dark figure leaving the house and it was assumed that it was Tristyn leaving her home.

-The media reported Tristyn’s disappearance, and a massive search party took place. Melanie and the cheer squad all got together to help.

-Rumors began to circulate that Tristyn was with a drug dealer named Carlo. Despite her parents finding this ludacris, they had to question him. They also checked Snapchat for leads since it was a favorite form of communication for drug deals.

-Tre is questioned again admitted that he had seen Tristyn that night. He had lied since he was grounded and not allowed to have friends over. He also admitted that they had been hanging out with someone named Aiden Fucci and that everyone had left by 1am.

-Aiden was questioned and said he walked her home before going home himself. They had him and Tre go on a ride along to retrace his steps and prove his alibi. Aiden had showed them where he and Tristyn had parted ways. The police let them be to see if they would begin talking, never expecting what would happen next.

-The guys recorded themselves in the cop car goofing off and posted about it on Snapchat, along with them giving the peace sign and asking where Tristyn was. This earns them a trip to the police station.

-Everyone is angry about this post and cannot believe that they would be so cruel.

-Carlo is questioned and cleared as a suspect. Nobody knew who could have spread such a vicious rumor, especially her parents.

-New video showed a young male and female walking together around 2am and the male running away around 3:30am. They could not identify either of them, but saw the guy was wearing white shoes.

-Several hours after Tristyn was reported missing, her body was found by a retention pond. Her parents recall getting the news and being asked about her phone and any identifying marks.

-Brittney remembers getting the call and completely falling apart with her parents.

-Her friend Reese was in denial, thinking there was no way Tristyn could be dead.

-At this point, Tre and Aiden were still suspects. Their parents were brought in and talk to them about what happened. Aiden’s parents tell him what is going on and tell him that anything he says will affect him. They also question him about the clothes he was wearing, which made him look more suspicious.

-Aiden’s house is searched and video surveillance shows his mom cleaning a pair of Aiden’s jeans…the ones he was wearing that night. The shoes from the video were also found in the house and the blood on them was tested and matched Tristyn’s. Knives and disturbing drawings were also found in the house. His girlfriend and Tre also said that Aiden would often share homicidal and disturbing thoughts.

-They also shared Aiden’s desire to kill someone for the sake of killing someone and expected to do it soon.

-Aiden was arrested for Tristyn’s murder and tried as an adult. He was sentenced to life in prison, but because he is a minor, he will get a review after 25 years.

-Aiden’s mom got 30 days in jail for tampering with evidence.

-Tre was cleared as a suspect.

-The homecoming game that year was dedicated to Tristyn.

-More next week, stay tuned.